| Bonjour de Paris ...
Chers Amis,
It is September in Paris. That means that it is "la rentrée" which for families with school age children means get ready for the school year and get back to work after summer vacations. For us preparing for my teaching during the fall trimester at IMEP is as close as we get to that experience. La rentrée also means that normal life in Paris resumes after the summer break. The city is again full of Parisiens who now outnumber the tourists. The stores, restaurants, clubs etc. are open and crowded and there is a bit more energy in the air. The weather is perhaps the best it will be all year with the sun thankfully keeping the temperature moderate after the August heat. Soon it will be cloudy and rainy but it's best not to think about that so we can enjoy the rest of September.
This summer was probably the closest we have come to having the traditional French summer. In July we traveled to Italy for a week vacation and with the exception of Leslie making an over night trip to work with Philippe Martel's trio, the rest of the month was spent working in and around Paris. We spent most of August vacationing away from Paris with the exception of a couple nights when I was back in Paris to play solo at the Hotel Lutetia. It took seven years but we finally experienced a French summer holiday!
We have both found the time off from performing to be restorative. I was able to work on some repertoire while we were away in August. My playing on my solo dates as well as my work with Leslie feels more free and I am enjoying performing more now that I had before. I know that having that much time away from work was really good for Leslie. Since her instrument is her body, being able to rest her voice and relax for an extended period of time was just what she needed. This month she was invited to perform two dates with Philippe Duchemin's trio. One was in Cherbourg and the other near Avignon. We did a duo date at the Qatar Embassy, and had gigs in two new clubs as well as our normal monthly Paris dates. Leslie was scheduled to play two nights next weekend at Jazz Cafe Montparnasse with Rhoda Scott but the club has been closed for renovation and they of course didn't get the work finished in time so those dates are canceled leaving us with an unexpected hole in our calendar. On the plus side, that gives us some free time to see our friends Clifford and Lydia who are on one of their bi-yearly visits to Paris. Finally I am happy to say that I will be playing solo at Hotel Lutetia in October. https://www.hotellutetia.com/bar-josephine
Classes begin next week at the college. During last week's faculty meeting I learned that I will have the same teaching load as last year. So my days of summer are long gone and it's back to work. https://www.imep.pro/en/ | 
